Steven Pressley is happy to let his six strikers battle it out for a piece of the first-team action.

With new arrival Gary Madine lining up alongside Frank Nouble at Leyton Orient the Sky Blues boss named four specialist strikers plus attacking midfielder James Maddison in his choice of seven substitutes.

Ironically he had to pitch on his only spare defender, Andy Webster, when skipper Reda Johnson suffered a first-minute head injury and he admitted: “Ideally we would have brought a better balanced bench but that’s the situation we’re in just now. At least it gives you plenty of attacking options when you’re trailing.

“It’s a big contrast to this time last year when were really only had two strikers in contention and it means that you’re going to have at least four players feeling frustrated, but that’s the reality of the situation – each player has to earn the right to play in this team.

“If they’re not happy then they’ll speak to me and if they do that we’d obviously consider loaning them out. For now it’s obviously good to have that competition because we haven’t scored enough goals this season and five in two games is encouraging.”

Pressley was more concerned about the two soft set-piece goals that saw his side scrambling to salvage a point at Brisbane Road when they had seemed to be on course for their first away win of the season.

“We work on one-to-one defending all the time,” said Pressley, “but we have to take that into the game because that’s the difference between us winning comfortably and finding ourselves in a position where we’re chasing the game.

“This was a game that we absolutely should have won because we were so much in control so the word I’d use is frustrated. It was important that we didn’t lose after last week’s victory because it keeps that belief going.

"I’m delighted with the response after going behind and I think our supporters appreciated the players’ efforts.

“But two set-plays cost us dearly and in this division you have to deal with that.

“The first one was direct from a corner when we lost our man and the second one was second phase. We have to do better in these situations because we put so much into the game – so much hard work, so much endeavour.

“But I said to the group at half-time that good teams score late goals; it’s the sign of a good team when you never give up but continue to push for the equaliser which was the least we deserved over the course of the 90 minutes.

“There were some encouraging signs there; I thought we looked a real threat but we just needed that second goal to give us some breathing space. Things change very quickly in football and if you don’t kill them off you’re always in a precarious situation.

“When the home side get their goal it gives them fresh energy and belief. We reacted well to that but then lost a second goal to a long diagonal – something we’d spoken about and worked on in training.”

“For 18 years of age, starting his first game in centre midfield, Jack was outstanding – he’s a terrific talent.

“Gary Madine gave us a real presence up front; he produced a beautifully weighted pass for the first goal and the second came from his pressure. And Aaron Martin acquitted himself very well – he was strong and mobile and I’m very pleased with his contribution.

“All round, in fact, it was a good performance – but we have to turn those good performances into wins.”